Modern twist on the traditional plum pie

Made up of chocolate shortcrust pastry, plum jam, chocolate ganache, cheesecake mousse, coloured white chocolate shard, mint, and honeycomb

A few weeks back marked a year at my current workplace – and as per start up tradition we all tend to bring something in to celebrate our “anniversary”. I have been giving this recipe some thoughts for a few weeks, and having taken some inspiration from Supermoon Bakehouse (which I have been dying to go for ages because they make insane croissants – but it is all the way in New York!), this is what I have ended up with:

Few more pictures on the making of….

I used 2 type of pipping on the cheesecake mousse to give it a bit more depth and texture.

Overall it is a pretty fun thing to make – there are quite a number of elements but many can be made in advanced and it does taste fantastic (I mean…you can’t really go wrong with putting chocolate and jam together!)

Recipe (for 1 tart, or 2-3 small tarts)

Ingredients:

Sweet shortcrust pastry:
65g unsalted butter, cubed
50g icing sugar sifted
25g whole eggs (~half a beaten egg)
125g plain flour
5g chocolate powder
pinch of salt

Plum Jam
250g plum
250 granulated sugar
Juice of ½ small lemon
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Chocolate Ganache
200g dark chocolate (chopped into small chunks)
200g double cream

Cheesecake Mousse (alternatively, you can just use whipped cream)
250g cream cheese (/soft cheese as they call it)
150g whipped cream
100g caster sugar (or less/more based on personal preference)

White Chocolate Shard
200g white chocolate
red food colouring
1-2 acetate sheets

To Decorate
Honeycomb (shop bought)
Fresh mint

Method

For the chocolate shortcrust pastry (can be made a few days in advance): put butter in the mixing bowl and beat (easiest with an electric whisk / mixer) till soft and smooth. Then add the icing sugar and beat until smooth. Then gradually incorporate the eggs, making sure the mixture becomes fully emulsified. Mix in the flour and chocolate powder and combine to a smooth mass. Then turn the dough out onto the work surface, shape it into a block and wrap it in cling film and put the dough in the fridge to rest until firm (ideally 2-3 hours)
For the plum jam (can also be made a few days in advance): cut plum into chunks (remove the stones), and put into a saucepan over medium heat. Add water, lemon juice, sugar and pinch of salt and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. It is done when it becomes a thick paste. You can adjust the sugar level as you see fit. It doesn’t matter too much if the plum is a bit raw, just make sure to add more sugar to counteract the tanginess of the fruit
Make white chocolate shard (can be made in advance): melt the white chocolate, then take around 1/4 of the white chocolate into another bowl and add the red food colouring (just 2-3 drops will be sufficient). Spread the red chocolate onto the acetate sheet and leave to set for 5 minutes (just put in freezer), then spread the rest of the white chocolate on top to cover. Leave to set in the fridge.
Making the pastry case: roll out the pastry on a floured work surface to about 5mm thick. Line a tart ring (or tart tin) with it and place in the fridge for around 10-15 minutes until firmed up again. Preheat the oven to 170 C (gas mark 3 to 4). Take the tin out of the fridge and lay a sheet of baking parchment over the pastry. Fill the case with baking beans and blind bake for 15 minutes. Then remove the beans and bake for a further 7-10 minutes. Take out of oven and leave to cool
Make chocolate ganache: heat double cream in saucepan until boiling, then pour into the chopped dark chocolate. Stir until chocolate is completely melted
Assemble the pastry: spread the plum jam into the bottom of the chocolate pastry case, then pour in the chocolate ganache. Leave in fridge to set (usually takes 1-2 hours)
Make cheesecake mousse: mix cream cheese with sugar, and whisk whipping cream till stiff peak. Mix both together (should be able to hold its shape for pipping, if too runny then add more whipping cream and continue to whip). Put in a pipping bag
Decorate tart: once the chocolate tart is set, pipe the cheese mousse on top of the ganache. Break honeycombs into small pieces and scatter on top of the cream; break the white chocolate into shards and insert into the tart. Finish with some fresh mint leaves (mint leaves actually give the whole tart a fresh touch, so well worth it)